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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27070681">jire</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/jessseventy/pseuds/jessseventy'>jessseventy</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Assorted Star Wars Splashes (w/Dai Bendu) [8]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Dai Bendu, Force Sensitivity, Force Visions, Gen, Jedi Ahsoka Tano, Kyber Crystals (Star Wars), Planet Jedha (Star Wars), The Force</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-09 00:40:04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,500</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27070681</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/jessseventy/pseuds/jessseventy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>jire: (Dai Bendu) fast; with speed; quickly</em>
</p><p>Jyn Erso, in a cave of a thousand songs, cannot find the one she came for.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jyn Erso &amp; Ahsoka Tano</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Assorted Star Wars Splashes (w/Dai Bendu) [8]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1977589</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>72</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>jire</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26104063">Heart Language</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/aroacejoot/pseuds/aroacejoot">aroacejoot</a>, <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostwriterofthemachine/pseuds/ghostwriterofthemachine">ghostwriterofthemachine</a>, <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/loosingletters/pseuds/loosingletters">loosingletters</a>.
        </li>

    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Jyn Erso had lived on Jedha for a very, very long time. She was thirteen-years-old - that was, old enough to wander the streets of the temple city on her own and watch the Guardians of the Whills meditate and take care of the cave entrances, always from behind the protection of one of the street stalls selling the little octi-arms that still wiggled or trinkets that were supposed to protect the owner. Never once did she enter the small, open space that was never crossed by anyone but the Guardians.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And Baze. Baze didn't count though, since he was super-best friends with Chirrut, and Chirrut was one of the Guardians. Chirrut was blind, Jyn knew, and not just because his eyes were like octi-eye stew. She knew because a little kid had once run up to him with a drawing and shoved it in his face. His reaction had been good enough that Jyn had to duck under the trinket table and muffle her laughter in her shirt, not that anyone could hear it. Jedha was never silent, never.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She'd never seen the woman before. She was kind of pretty, Jyn guessed, the white and blue stripes of what Jyn had at first thought was a hat - it wasn't a hat - going with the orange of her skin, and her clothes were nice. They reminded Jyn of Chirrut's clothes, just more brown and white and tan, not quite as suited for Jedha's colder climate as Jyn's light jacket and layers were. It had taken Jyn a minute to figure out what exactly the woman was since togruta weren't all too common in Jedha. Jyn had then followed her, all the way from the temple city entrance, almost to the Guardians, and she'd done a good job of it too, staying out of sight and enjoying the adrenaline that came from sneaking about. She followed people all the time. It was fun.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This woman was different. She'd turned down a tight side-street, if it could even be called a street, her shoulders pressed against both sides of the buildings around her. Jyn knew how to follow someone down a path like that, and she pulled out her comm, tapping on it, and pulling up a school project she was supposed to be working on, before she headed after the woman, acting like she was very focused on the project, and not at all on the woman.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She was doing too good of a job, it turned out, as she ran straight into the woman, who'd turned around, and stopped moving entirely. Jyn looked up at her, heart doing a stutter-step in her chest, like when she had to duck and weave through the crowds, her comm turning off as her arm lowered to her side.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She was even more pretty up-close, the white tattoo-like markings on her cheeks and forehead, lines and diamonds stunning, the gold triangles set around her forehead like a crown glinting dully in the sunlight, the edges worn and in need of a thorough cleaning. Jyn swallowed. "Sorry."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're following me," the woman observed, their eyes meeting for a scarce second, before Jyn looked away, past her shoulder, only to return to studying her, because she was really interesting. A pair of cylinders made of metal hung from her hip, one on either side, and a third one was visible, slightly further back, almost hidden by the angle, on her right side. It looked totally different. As if it was supposed to be part of a separate set. "Why?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Because you're interesting," Jyn answered, giving the woman the standard excuse that she'd come up with a long time ago. "And nothing interesting happens here."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Are you sure?" The woman asked, and Jyn nodded, seriously, folding her hands behind her back, thumb brushing her wrist, near where her comm was located on her bracer, ready to activate it in case the woman did something. Jyn was thirteen, not four, and she was smart. She knew how to fight, how to grab a fistful of the grainy dirt that paved Jedha's streets, throw it in faces and noses and mouths, how to kick and punch and use the small pistol shoved into her boot to defend herself. "It's a very busy place."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jyn tilted her head slightly to the side. "It depends on why you're here. Why are you here?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The woman paused, considering. Jyn's lips quirked up in a smile. "I know you're a Jedi."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm not trying to hide it," the woman said, her lips mirroring Jyn's. "Yes. I'm Ahsoka Tano, Jedi Knight. And you?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Jyn."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Got a last name?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No," Jyn lied, wondering if you could lie to a Jedi. She knew that you couldn't lie to Chirrut. She'd seen more than one person try and pretend to be a Jedi to get into the caves - there had to be something special there if they were lying to do it - and they never got past the Guardians. So maybe you could lie to some of them, but not all of them. Like how some people were better at reading than others were. "Just Jyn."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Alright, Jyn," Ahsoka said, nodding, and accepting the lie. "Can you show me where the Guardians of the Whills are?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I guess," Jyn said, squinting up at the Jedi. "But why are you here? You never answered that."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka sighed, and reached for the third cylinder, unclipping it, and kneeling, so that she was closer to Jyn's height. She held it out in her hands, and Jyn's eyes drank in the sight hungrily, the metal shiny and reflective, buttons free of rust and almost any wear, beautiful. Ahsoka turned it over in her hands, and it rose into the air, hovering. Jyn gasped in awe, watching as the tool came apart, revealing a single gemstone in the center, one that reminded Jyn very much of the one hidden under her shirt. But... the one Ahsoka had was cracked down the middle, split into two parts.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Should it be like that?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka put the tool back together, and held it in both hands, pointed upwards. There was a divot in the middle of the top, like a well of some kind. There was a splutter, but nothing happened, and Jyn frowned. Ahsoka shook her head, the lekku - she was pretty sure that's what they were called - moving with her. She returned the tool to her belt, and withdrew one of the other ones, holding it like she had the first, pointed to the sky.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A beam of yellow shot upwards, bursting from the cylinder's well. They were lightsabers, of course. Jyn reached for the thrumming beam of energy, fingers hovering above it, but not touching. It was warm on her skin, pleasantly so, and Jyn couldn't help but laugh, quietly. "Whoa."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"This one's mine," Ahsoka said quietly, the yellow vanishing. She spun the cylinder around in her hand once, before returning it to its place. "The other one belongs to my padawan. My student. She - she was hurt recently. I'm hoping that if I can fix the kyber crystal, it might help her."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"How do you know fixing it will do anything?" Jyn asked, acutely aware of the string around her neck, and the kyber crystal that hung on it. Ahsoka shrugged.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I trust in the Force. And Master Yoda. When he says you should do something, he's usually right."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was an odd quality to Ahsoka's voice, after the title of Master Yoda. Fond, like how Bodhi got when he talked about his grandmother, full of joy and well-meant, false annoyance. Jyn nodded, and shuffle-squeezed past Ahsoka, taking the Jedi's hand in her own. "I'll show you where Chirrut is.”</span>
  <span>Chirrut, as always, was at the main entrance. Jedha's temple city had once, according to old people who told stories to their kids - Jyn was not in the least ashamed of eavesdropping on anything and everything she could - belonged to the Jedi. The planet itself was supposedly named for them. Jyn believed it; what other explanation was there for the statues outside the temple city? But now, it was a city of people, bustling and busy and crowded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka stayed behind Jyn, who kept an ear on her, taking note of everything. She was acutely aware of how exposed her back was to Ahsoka, and while she doubted the Jedi would stab her with a lightsaber in the middle of a packed street, Jyn was somewhat paranoid. It didn't come from anywhere, as far as she could tell. Her family had never been attacked, she'd never been attacked - other than a few fistfights that ended quickly - and she'd never been through a traumatic experience either.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Here," Jyn said, stepping to the side, and gesturing with one hand, to the entrance. Chirrut was there, with a young anomid who was called Yin Kran. Jyn glanced at Ahsoka, who wasn't moving forwards, her eyes narrowing at the woman. Almost subconsciously, she shifted her footwork, adopting a stance that was still passive but would let her get moving faster. "What's wrong?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Aren't you coming with?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jyn's shoulders rose like hackles on a tooka, her hands curling into fists, the hem of her jacket bunching up in her fingers. "I can't."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Why not?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I can't," Jyn repeated, and Ahsoka raised a single eyebrow. Wait. No. She didn't have eyebrows. Why didn't she have eyebrows? You needed them, so sweat didn't run into your eyes. Maybe togruta didn't have facial sweat glands? That didn't seem healthy, so maybe they sweated differently? Or, not sweated. Some sentiments didn't sweat, Jyn knew, they panted, so maybe togruta were like that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And she was rambling to herself. She needed to focus.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm not Force-sensitive."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka laughed at that, a small huff of amusement. Normally, it'd make Jyn feel really stupid and give her the hot itchy feeling that made her want to scream and kick and punch, but with Ahsoka, it didn't. Maybe it was the way she did it, maybe it was how they'd met. Maybe it was just Ahsoka. But it felt nice. Like a little sweet-candy on a bad day. "You don't have to be Force-sensitive to enter. And the Force is telling me that you should come. Besides, you led me here. I should give you something in exchange, shouldn't I?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A trade. Jyn was tempted. To enter the caves would be amazing. Even if she didn't get to take anything from the caves, just being there would be pretty awesome.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>On the other hand... caves. Caves tended to be dark. And not fun.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Alright," Jyn said, turning and squaring her shoulders. "Let's go, then."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Chirrut didn't look at her, or Ahsoka, when they approached. The anomid, Yin, did. She rose, the staff that hung from her back knocking against the stone steps that lead to the cave entrance, her clothing almost identical to Chirrut's. "Welcome, Knight Tano."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka bowed, in the way that Jyn had seen the real Jedi do, when they came to Jedha to explore the caves. Her gaze fell to Chirrut, who was holding his walking stick in both hands, chin resting on the top of it, thoughtful. Jyn zoned out of the conversation Yin and Ahsoka were engaged in, and let her eyes wander around the empty space, the divots that marked footsteps, and the worn away carvings that dug into the steps and cave entrance, circles and lines, always circles and lines.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Jyn," Ahsoka said, startling her from her thoughts, and she straightened, turning to the face the Jedi. She didn't look like she was upset Jyn had zoned out, which was nice. Her teachers didn't like it, even though she could still pay attention if she was reading something, she could still hear them talking. It was her problem if she didn't pay attention anyway, her grades that would suffer. "Ready to go?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She shrugged, and Ahsoka took that as a yes, moving up the steps to the dark rectangle framed by stone. Jyn followed her, reaching one hand into her pocket, and pulling a tiny flashlight out. She clipped it to her bracer, beside her comm, and stepped into the shadows, after Ahsoka.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For a few paces, it was dark, and Jyn focused on the sound of Ahsoka's steps ahead of her, as the ground went down. Her eyes didn't adjust, and they were sent into true darkness only a few steps later. When Jyn glanced over her shoulder, the exit was gone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She really hoped she hadn't made a massive mistake agreeing to this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She twisted her flashlight, and it lit up, cutting a path of clear white through the cave, and Jyn gasped in awe. It was massive, impossibly so, bigger on the inside than the outside, tall as the walls that surrounded Jedha's temple-city, stalactites hanging from the ceiling like frozen ice from roof edges in the snowy months, and stalagmites spearing up from the earth in reverse. It was frozen in time, dust hovering in the air, only visible through Jyn's flashlight, and ethereal in its beauty.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Whoa."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka chuckled, pulling out one of her lightsabers, and turning it on. The hum of the yellow blade was a startle, but Jyn found she liked the sound of it, like her mother, when there was a song on the radio she didn't know the words to but knew the tune. "I know. We're looking for a crystal that sings."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jyn considered that. "Is this a crazy Jedi thing?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Sort of," Ahsoka agreed, walking forwards, deeper into the cave. "You won't get lost in here, don't worry," she assured Jyn as she went. "If you want to leave, it'll let you leave. And don't trust the mirages."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Wait, you're leaving me alone?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka turned and grinned at her. "Not alone. You have a crystal with you, and they're all connected. Besides, if you think I'm responsible, you clearly haven't been paying attention."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jyn huffed, crossing her arms. "I'm starting to think I'm more responsible than you are."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"A lot of people are," Ahsoka said, unbothered, before she really started to get out of sight, her weapon the only way Jyn could really locate her. "If you need me, call me."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She was gone. Jyn groaned, and threw her hands in the air, turning around, towards where the exit should have been. She marched forwards, tripped over a lip of stone, and landed hard on her stomach, hands narrowly coming up to catch her. With a huff of irritation, she stood up and started to walk again, this time using her flashlight.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was a wall of stone. No door, no exit. It was as if they'd teleported somewhere, and Jyn didn't know a lot about Jedi, but she was reasonably sure that they couldn't teleport, and even if they could, she doubted they could teleport her without her picking up on it or touching her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Stupid Force," Jyn snarled, kicking at the wall half-heartedly, not wanting to hurt herself, because she was in a cave with no clear way out. She started to curse under her breath, and walked alongside the stone, using her flashlight to guide her feet, and keeping one hand on the freezing cold wall, following the logic of how she'd escape a maze. Keep one hand on the wall and just keep walking. You'd eventually find the exit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Probably.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hopefully.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maybe.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Unless you were dealing with the Force.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Dammit," Jyn whispered, sinking down to the ground, hands gripping the sides of her head. "What an idiot - how stupid - no wonder I don't have any friends. Who'd want to hang around with someone who's all, oh yeah, let's wander off with the random person who happens to have a lightsaber, what a great idea! Do you know nothing?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jyn's reaction was justified, in her opinion. She whirled around, rising to her full - kind of short but who needed to be that tall anyways - height, and slammed her fist into the speaker's face. Or, she tried to. They caught it, their fingers wrapping around her fist, in a totally impossible way, because that had to hurt, and you weren't supposed to catch a punch like that, it could break your wrist, how stupid was this person?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was a guy. Probably. Jyn wasn't totally sure, but who cared. She was probably hallucinating anyways. He was bald, his skin dark, and wore a brown tunic. He didn't seem impressed with her reaction.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're not a Jedi," he observed, voice raspy and painful, still holding her hand with his, his other hand behind his back, because of course it was, and she was really starting to get pissed off now. "Why are you here?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You tell me," Jyn snarled, trying to yank her hand away. He didn't let go until the third try, when she put all her weight into it. The new freedom knocked her balance, and she fell backwards, landing on her back with a grunt. Within moments, she was back up on her feet. "I don't want to be here, the crazy lady brought me here."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"And you followed her?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah, I'm stupid, don't need to rub it in, because if you do, I will punch you."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You already tried that."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She bared her teeth at him. He was getting on her nerves, and she was scared. Screw the crazy togrutan, she wanted out of the cave. She didn’t even know why she’d agreed to doing whatever the hell she was doing. She couldn’t even remember. “Maybe I’ll kick you instead.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He sighed. “I’m not even surprised.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jyn turned around, and marched away, making sure to stomp harder than usual, so he knew she was mad, but she didn’t look back at him, as much as she wanted to, if only to see his expression. But if she looked behind her, then she’d ruin what she was trying to do.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Anger doesn’t solve issues, only action.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Clearly,” she snarled under her breath, stomping harder, and nearly falling, since the cave had not at any point in the last few minutes miraculously gotten good lighting, and she still only had her flashlight. Giving her up crossed arms to make sure she didn’t walk into a wall or something stupid like that, which would also ruin what she was trying to do, Jyn kept stomping.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eventually, she stopped the stomping, and walked normally. Her boots echoed in the caves, and she could hear water dripping somewhere, which was good. Water needed some way to get in, after all, and while spring water was a thing, Jyn was trying to be positive, as much as she could be in her situation, which wasn’t much.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Jyn.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Jyn froze, and whirled around, hands curling up into fists, held before her, feet sliding into a combat stance, since she’d already been caught off-guard by one weird person.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nothing. A slow scan of the cave she’d walked through already, lined with the pillars of stone, revealed nobody there. No octi, no people, nothing. Slowly, Jyn turned back around, and kept walking, her heart pounding in her throat, chest feeling too light.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Jyn.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Ignore it, she decided, because if she showed whoever said her name how scared she was, she’d look weak, and Jyn was never going to look weak, ever. She was strong, and people had to know that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Focus on your breathing, Jyn, she scolded herself, and did just that, remembering the countless holo’s she’d watched over the past few years, about all sorts of things. Breathing came up a lot.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Jyn Erso.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>She knelt, pretending she hadn’t heard it, and started to tighten her boot, every breath felt in the back of her throat, a tingle in her lungs that didn’t feel right drawing most of her attention. She slid her blaster out of the boot, and coughed, holding her hands to her chest, hiding the weapon in her jacket pocket. Then, she stood up, and kept walking.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pan the flashlight back and forth. Keep walking, one step after another, and find the exit. She’d gotten in the caves, so she had to be able to get out. Jyn did her best to ignore her memories of documentaries that talked about ancient people, who sacrificed living beings to appease their gods, and how those caves - they always mapped them, always had a rope to follow back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jyn had no map. Had no rope to follow back. Nobody was with her.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ibli iilan.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Breathe, she had to remember to breathe, because if you didn’t breathe, you would drown. Jyn wasn’t about to drown, and she wasn’t going to die in a kriffing cave of all things, at thirteen years old, because she’d been stupid enough to follow some random Jedi into the damn thing.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Jyn, ibli iilan, keello?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>She whirled around, blaster raised, flashlight casing light over a cave wall. It had… come after her. Was chasing her. Jyn’s throat tightened around where she could feel her heart pounding, higher than it should have been, lungs tingling and numb. She spun around, and started to sprint away, not caring where she went so long as it was away from the kriffing caves.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jyn didn’t get far, tripping over something, or maybe nothing, she didn’t know, and falling to the ground, loose pebbles and rough stone tearing at her fingers and palms, ripping skin away. Jyn scrambled to her feet even before she’d fully hit the ground, and kept going, vision blurred by tears, not that it changed anything. The light from her flashlight swing back and forth with the motion of her arms, churring at her sides.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She barely noticed the cliff, and almost went right off it, boots skidding across the stone, her weight pitching backwards, to the side, as she twisted, shoulder slamming into the ground, painfully, hurting.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ibli raheniel… keelak kat fehl.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Jyn choked on the tears in her throat, summoned by fear, kicking, scrambling away from the cliff edge, and trying to get away. Her back came up against a wall, and Jyn screamed, unable to hold it in any longer, bending forwards, over her knees, gasping for air.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Go away!”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Keello, ibli raheniel?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know!” Jyn screamed, throat tearing. “I don’t understand why I’m here, go away!”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ibli raheniel.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Go away!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jyn screamed, slamming her hands over her ears, nails biting into her scalp, painful. She screamed even louder when the first breath was gone, keeping the voices at bay, as best she could, refusing to listen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She’d lost her blaster at some point during her sprint. Jyn scrambled for it, still screaming the voices away, clawing at her throat, not knowing what she was trying to do anymore, just wanting it to stop.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maybe seconds, maybe minutes, maybe hours, but not days later, Jyn was on her side, curled up somewhat, starting at her open, blaster-less hand where it rested on the stone, lit only by her flashlight. Red blood stained her knuckles and fingertips, ebbing from the heels of her palms and smeared across the ridges of her skin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She was shaking. Every breath shallow, but also heaving, tears slowly leaking from her eyes like water from a spring. She was cold, and scared, and alone. But the voice was gone, even if her throat hurt like when she’d lost her voice two years ago and her ears were filled with pressure and her nose was running and her eyes hurt and she could feel where her nails had cut into the skin of her scalp.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Slowly, she pushed herself up. There was no cliff and there was no spectre or wall behind her or voices she couldn't understand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was something else.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It called her. It sounded like her name.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jire, it lilted, singing quietly, unable to be heard, only felt, sing-songing around her, slipping into her throat and soothing the pain in her hands. Jire. Keel widen keelak. Solkeel, jire.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t understand,” Jyn tried to say, her voice barely audible, even to herself. The song knew, and it thrummed in her chest.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Jire, dai paden. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Jyn rose into a crouch, slowly panning her flashlight around. Off it’s glow, something reflected, and she returned to it, going slower, and it reflected again, in one of the stalagnate pillars, where the stalagmite and stalactite had met, probably thousands of years in the past, if not millions.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jin edged forwards, crawling on her hands and knees until she could gather the courage to stand, her hands stinging. She stumbled towards the stalagnate, grabbing it to support herself, reaching for the crystal.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Jire, jaieh Ahsoka, foh.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>It was a crystal. Jyn pinched it between her fingers, and with the tiniest of pressure, the slightest of tugs, it came free, rolling into her palm.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ahsoka,” Jyn repeated, the word making no sound, only a thought in her mind. “For her student.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Haj dai, jire. Haj dai.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Only Force-sensitives could enter the caves, find the crystals. And that man, the spectre, he’d never said she wasn’t Force-sensitive. Only that she wasn’t a Jedi.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oh.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Jyn?’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jyn turned, to see Ahsoka, backlit but a rectangle of sunlight, her shadow casting across the rough stone floor, the tips of it’s montrals almost reaching her boots. Jyn swallowed, and curled her fingers around the crystal, moving towards the Jedi, who crouched, eyes worried.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have - you -”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I found it,” Jyn whispered hoarsely, the first real sound she’d made since she’d stopped screaming. Her fingers unfurled. “Your crystal.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You found it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“For you,” Jyn said, as best she could, reaching out. Ahsoka cupped her hands together, letting Jyn set the pulsing stone in her hands. There was a moment of hestitation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m Force-sensitive, aren’t I?” Jyn said, and Ahsoka looked up at her. “That’s why Chirrut lets me spy on the Guardians, and let me come in. Why didn’t the Jedi take me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We don’t take,” Ahsoka said softly, reaching up with her thumbs, and wiping the remaining tears away from Jyn’s eyes, so gently. “We record. It was your parents choice, Jyn. You are Force-sensitive, but not the kind most people think of.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She set a hand over Jyn’s chest, in the middle of her collarbone, light, yet firm. “Emotions, and instincts. That’s what you’d be noticed for. But it is dangerous to be sensitive to the Force.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jyn swallowed. “I know.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You can come to the Temple,” Ahsoka murmured, tucking a stray lock of hair behind Jyn’s ear. “You can learn techniques, if it overwhelms you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know things,” Jyn responded quietly, “I like learning. And I like Jedha. I want to stay here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And that’s okay,” Ahsoka promised. “But if you need us, we’re here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jyn nodded, and Ahsoka stood up, offering Jyn one hand. Jyn hadn’t held someone’s hand for a very long time, not since she’d been a little kid. But now, she did, slipping her fingers in with Ahsoka’s, letting the Jedi lead her out of the caves.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p><a href="https://js71.tumblr.com/post/624273937698865152/submit-requests">Tumblr</a>!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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